A Rose Among Thorns
by CherrySprinkles
Summary: This is a story about Sirius Black, a love story, a drama and a story about time and the realization of our pasts. Read n' review and I'll update.
1. Opening

Cho Chang clambered upstairs to her spacious attic and breathed deeply. The musty smell soothed her in a seemingly calm way. She eyed her space. Several dusty broomsticks lay in the corner, next to her mother's collection of fine navy blue china from France. Various items were strewn haphazardly about the room, and among the litter lay a small wooden chest. Curiously, Cho approached and kneeled before it, opening the top with care. Inside lay a small pack of Lucky cigarettes, a black lighter and a worn old photograph. Pushing the other items gently aside, Cho reached out and brought the photo to her face and examined it. A handsome man with neatly cut black hair had his arm around a thin gray-skinned girl with wide and timid eyes. The image looked familiar to Cho, as it brought her back into an unexplored past. She stood and ran to the top of staircase. "Mama!" she cried. A harried looking woman with her hair tied neatly in a bun walked up the attic stairway and looked at Cho questioningly. Waving the photo before her mother's face, Cho demanded "The picture! Who are these people?!" Cho's mother took the image from her daughter, then her face lit up into a smile. "Why, that is your lovely Aunt Remi. A fine girl, quiet but very beautiful." Cho shook her head. "No, Mama, the man. Who is that man?" The woman stared at the picture for a long time, peering at it carefully. She then looked up at her six year old daughter and drew a breath. "That man...I do not know." Cho nodded and retrieved the picture. Seeing it for a second time, Cho noticed the comfort and lovely disposition these people held. Feeling her stomach clench, she too longed for that kind of happiness in her timid little heart. 


	2. The Rose

  
  
PROLOUGE  
  
"M'excuser, savez-vous la façon au Leaky Cauldron ?"  
  
Sirius stopped in his tracks. A timid, frail girl stood several feet before him, her weak black hair hanging off her shoulders. She had bright blue eyes that flickered to and fro as she in took her surroundings warily. Long, spindly arms and legs conjoined with her thin torso, sheathed in pearl-white skin. She spoke to him in a thick French accent; her voice sounded like lovely French velvet.  
  
Hairs standing on end, Sirius shivered slightly. The burly black dog sat in the snow and pondered the girl. Why is she talking to me? he thought. Doesn't she know I'm a dog? Sirius padded up to her, leaving crisp tracks in the freshly fallen snow of the back alley. The girl stood in front of a silver dumpster; all this shifted into focus as he slowly merged from his animal form. The girl's eyes grew wide and she wrapped her dark wool cloak tightly around herself.  
  
"S'il vous plaît ne me blesser pas.. " she whispered, then raced away before Sirius could catch her.   
  
CHAPTER ONE  
  
Sirius Black stood in the doorway of the Leaky Cauldron and stared at a lump on the dusty floor. All was quiet in the inn, except the rustling sounds of the serving wenches. He closed his eyes briefly, and then opened them with ease to focus his vision. The lump on the floor was the timid French girl he'd met in the ally, hunched over and covering her face with her bony hands. She shook and shivered, rocking back and forth and gasping for breath.  
  
"Are you alright?" Sirius asked gently.  
  
Startled by his voice, the girl raised her hands abruptly from her face and wiped them on her cloak. She sniffed loudly.  
  
"Part de moi vous mongel dégoûtant..." she growled.  
  
Sirius reflected in puzzlement. He did not know French.  
  
"I'm sorry," he said slowly. "I can't understand what you're saying."  
  
Shaking her head, the girl moaned and covered her face once more, sobbing and choking.  
  
The sobs grew louder and louder as the girl wailed and moaned. A serving wench towards the back looked up curiously at them from her sweeping.  
  
"Listen," Sirius said to her, bending down slowly to meet her level on the floor. "Are you okay?"  
  
"Etes-vous bon, le chéri?" came a rickety hoarse voice from the back of the room. Sirius turned and met the eyes of the sweeping wench. Her face was wrinkled and pinched together tightly, cheekbones firmly set in place. Even in the dim light, Sirius could see her dark cherry lipstick reflect in the pale rays.  
  
The girl lifted her head and turned to the wench, tears streaming down her face. "Je ne suis pas. " was her soft reply. She took a shaky breath and stood slowly, gathering herself. When Sirius offered his hand to help her she swatted it away.  
  
"Le métis laid...burn dans l'enfer, " she muttered, drawing a cigarette and a lighter from her cloak pocket. Sirius watched curiously as the flame danced in the lighter before leaving to the tip of cigarette, then blinked sharply as the girl snapped the lighter close. He was not familiar with Muggle contraptions. Then he started suddenly. Could this girl be from the other side? He dared not mention it, as he decided he already was upsetting the girl enough.  
  
At that moment loud footsteps sounded on the squeaky floorboards as the wench with the cherry red lips approached. She was dressed in a drab wool dress, two small silver earrings placed carefully in her ear lobes. The French girl inhaled deeply into her cigarette and blew the smoke out of the corner of her mouth. Sirius cringed.  
  
The wench frowned and tapped the girl lightly on the shoulder to catch her attention. "M'excuser, le coup manqué.. " she said to the French girl. "No smoking allowed." The French girl looked surprised suddenly, then dropped her cigarette and stepped on it to put out the putrid flame.  
  
"Je suis désolé." she mumbled, then looked away. After the wench went back to her sweeping, Sirius turned to the girl and told her the only bit of French he knew.  
  
"Comment êtes-vous ? "  
  
He was not entirely sure what that phrase meant, but he said it nonetheless, praying it was not an insult. The girl whipped her head around and smiled suddenly. She smiled a thin-lipped crooked smile.  
  
"My name is Remi." she said, and Sirius smiled back at her.  
TO BE CONTINUED! Please R/R 


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